HTC DROID DNA vs. Samsung Galaxy S3

We take a look at two of the most impressive, big-screened Android devices around: the HTC DROID DNA and Samsung’s all conquering Galaxy S3 — which device should be in your pocket?

There are many excellent Android devices on the market at the moment but often there’s little to separate competitors, with many offering the same tech, only nestled within a slightly different chassis. Fortunately, the same can’t be said for today’s contenders.

They’re powerful, good looking and boast some of the best screen technology on the market, but which one should you buy? Well, based on stats alone we’re about to find out!

Software

As we previously mentioned, both of these devices are driven by Google’s hugely successful Android operating system.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 calls upon version 4.0.4 out of the box (Ice Cream Sandwich) but there is an update to the new and massively improved Jelly Bean available, which offers many bug fixes and new features.

HTC’s DROID DNA sports version 4.1 (Jelly Bean) out of the box and is able to call upon the laundry list of new features, such as Google Now, a new and massively tweaked notifications system and, thanks to Google’s work on ‘Project Butter,’ you can look forward to constant and silky smooth visuals.

Naturally, both devices give the user access to the Google Play Store for apps, games, widgets and the like, and both also offer custom user interfaces, with the Samsung utilizing TouchWiz and the DROID DNA offering HTC’s vaunted Sense UI. However, neither are really big selling points, especially now that Jelly Bean is the benchmark -- so hopefully we’ll see less and less of them in the future.

Winner - Draw

Power

Samsung’s Galaxy S3 runs on the company’s powerful Exynos 4412 Quad chipset, which features a 1.4GHz quad-core chipset and the highly rated Mali-400MP GPU. The drive train of the device is very good and users can look forward to running the latest games and HD content without the device skipping a beat.

The Galaxy S3 also features 1GB RAM and is available in 16, 32 or 64GB options, though whichever you choose will be expandable via micro SD, thankfully!

The HTC DROID DNA is powered by Qualcomm’s ridiculously powerful MDM615m chipset, which is made up of a 1.5GHz quad-core ‘Krait’ CPU and the very accomplished Adreno 320 GPU, meaning that, like the Galaxy S3, there isn’t much the device can’t do.

HTC has also seen fit to imbue the DROID DNA with 2GB RAM, which is great, but the company has hamstrung the device by offering only 16GB of storage (of which only 11GB is available to the user) and there is no sign of a micro SD card.

Winner – Draw

Form and Construction

Samsung Galaxy S3 - 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm, 133g

HTC DROID DNA - 141 x 70.5 x 9.7 mm, 141g

Samsung’s Galaxy S3 follows devotedly in the footsteps of its forebears with a lightweight plastic construction and simple, neat aesthetics. The device’s nicely rounded corners make it more comfortable in the hand than its size would otherwise allow and you can count on it being fairly robust.

The DROID DNA is constructed like HTC devices of old, which is to say very well. The device’s design is minimal but pleasing and the materials chosen (aluminium and polycarbonate) lend a real feeling of quality to the smartphone. It’s comfortable in the hand too, and, like the GS3, doesn’t feel anywhere near as bulky as it could have.